hernandezantonia

In the words of the prominent attorney and civil rights activists, Antonia Hernández, "I am a kid out of Garfield High School in East Los Angeles. I am a pretty bright individual, and I had decent grades. I was just dirt-poor. My parents lived in the projects and I dreamed of going to Cal State L.A., because it was just across the street. That is as far as my dreams would take me. I am sure that I was judged by standards other than just grades or test scores... They saw in me a burning determination, the drive, the willingness to work. They gave me a break, but I am not the only one. It happened to thousands of Latinos who went to medical school, to architectural school." Hernández was the first Latina staff council to the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary and former president of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF).